In the south of Namibia lays an entrance into the Great Sand Sea.
An ancient riverbed snakes into the dunes. Cut off from the sea
by centuries of piling sand.
A landscape like no other exists.
This is Sossusvlei.

A road approaches the distant hills. With each kilometre it begins to become apparent those hills are actually sand dunes.

Dots on the ground are living breathing creatures. Springbok, Oryx, Ostrich and Brown Hyena call this desolate landscape home. Their presence grounds you like
a pinch to your arm.
This landscape actually exists.

Slowly the veld gives way to towering dunes. The landscape rises up and a passage appears.
Freestanding dunes rise up
from the dusty Namib plains.

Trees are dwarfed as you become accustomed to the sheer scale of the landscape that is starting
to consume you.

The desert takes hold as the road ends. Tyre tracks and foot prints are replaced by dune ridges.

The ridges lead into the dunes and show the way. The light creates contrasts in the sand like lines on a treasure map leading
to a hidden treasure.

Ripples and curves catch the light as the wind transforms the landscape. A hostile environment becomes a harsher reality as it tries to cover the deserts secrets.

Secrets in the desert are not hidden forever. Perseverance and a thirst for discovery pushes you on deeper into the dunes.

Eventually the dunes give way and
the sand opens up relinquishing the deserts secrets.

Like twisted hands clawing
at the open sky, petrified trees extend from the earth in an
800 year old reach.

Their beauty is the deserts
best kept secret, a secret well hidden by the continually
shifting sands.

Nothing can remain in the desert forever. The marching sand always moves on. The setting sun is natures way of telling you it is time to move on, saving you from not being consumed and becoming another of the deserts
hidden secrets.

Join me in May 2016 on my Namibian Photographic Experience. For more details please see www.benmcraephotography.com